Tip #1: Go for the chocolate and flowers.

While a rational economist would tell you and your special Valentine to skip the formalities of jewelry, chocolate, and flowers (after all, don’t we all really have better things to spend our money on?), we know that in reality, human relationships are based on more than money.

This video also appeared on my friend Paul Solman’s website

Tip #2: Be careful. Kids are expensive.

Toys, Nintendo, iPads, clothes, birthday parties: kids are expensive. Be careful.

Tip #3: Don’t let your expectations run away.

Our data show that our expectations about people we meet online tend to be overinflated. If we see that somebody is into sports, for example, we tend to mistakenly assume that they like the same sports we do. This bias, as you can imagine, can lead to emotional distress after the date. Keep your expectations modest.